The present application relates to agricultural implements and more specifically relates to liquid storage and distribution apparatus for use with agricultural implements.
It has been common to carry liquid materials, such as fertilizer, in tanks spaced across the frame of an agricultural implement such as a planter. For example, the John Deere 7000 Drawn 8-Row Max-Emerge planters are provided with a liquid fertilizer apparatus which includes several liquid storage tanks spaced across the frame of the implement and interconnected by fluid lines with one another and with the various ground distribution applicators to permit the liquid material to flow from the tanks to the various applicators from any or all of the tanks.
The storage tanks are filled from a common source, such as a supply tank carried on a separate frame or one stored at a central location. When an operator wanted to fill the storage tanks from a supply tank, he would connect the pump of the supply tank with the storage tanks and pump fluid through a supply line to each of the storage tanks. Each of the storage tanks had an opening in the lid to permit escape of the air from the tank during filling, but these openings were closed with lids provided with air vents that permitted escape of the fluid from the tank once it filled. Accordingly, the operator had to give constant attention to the filling operation to avoid spillage of the liquid from the storage tanks as they became filled.
Further, when the implement was moved over uneven or hilly terrain, liquid would spill through the vents in the lids as it shifted in the tank. Some tanks were also interconnected by fluid inlet lines and too, when the fluid was applied on hilly terrain, it would shift from the uphill tank to the lower tank further complicating the overflowage problem from the vents.